A/N

Imagine Rogue's dress to being that of Anastasia's in the princess movie with choker and matching bracelet too when she went to the ballet.

Rogue grabbed a champagne flute off the tray of a passing waiter before making her way up to the second deck of the river boat. Her mother had splintered off from her as soon as they stepped on deck with the instructions to smile and mingle. That worked until one repugnant, over weight man started staring indecently at her chest. After that, she decided to get away from the majority of the party guests until the docked in about an hour.

She walked around the deck, avoiding the men and women inside and watched as they sailed up the Mighty Mississippi to where the Oak Alley Plantation waited for them all. It had been years since she had been back in the south, hell, it had been nearly five years since she had been back in the country. There was just something about being here that made her heart feel whole again because there was nowhere else on Earth like this and she should know as she had looked.

Rogue looked up from her musings to see a middle-aged man in a tuxedo walk out on to the deck next to her. He turned his head toward her and smiled, showing yellowing teeth to match the gold cap with the diamond in it. He looked like he would be more at home on the street keeping his whores in line than on a river boat on its was to a ball.

"Hello there beautiful." He said with a crisp northern accent that she couldn't place. He walked closer to her and leaned against the railing of the upper deck in an attempt to look suave. He failed miserably as the only thing she saw was a skeevy old man who was attempting to flirt with her.

She glanced away from him in a clear signal that she wasn't interested in anything he had to offer. "Nice night out." So he was a stupid skeevy old man.

Rogue took a drink out of her flute and turned away from him. That was a big mistake because as soon as she did his hand was on her ass and squeezing. Her jaw locked as she ground her teeth together in a half-hearted attempt to calm herself. Nope, not working.

She turned toward him with narrowed eyes to see him staring at her chest. A quick glance around told her no one was looking. So without a second thought she reached forward and slammed his head against the railing before flipping him over the side of the deck and into the Murky Mississippi below.

She took another sip of her champagne before turning to move to the other side of the deck. However, she stopped when she saw a familiar mousey haired teen in a tux staring at her with his mouth hanging open. It seemed that the little thief she had met yesterday was higher up on the food chain than she had thought and he seemed frozen to the spot.

Below she could hear yelling but ignored it as she regarded him. The chances of him relaying this story to someone who would tell her mother were slim. Maybe. But just to be sure...

"Evenin', sugar." She said, her voice dripping honey sweet.

That seemed to snap him out of his daze. "Ah-Ah was comin' ta help ya." He said nervously, his cheeks staining pink. "Ya know, fo' no' turnin' me in yesterday."

What a little sweet heart.

"Ah told ya, don' worry about it." She dismissed the incident yesterday, Lord knew she had done it enough herself.

He nodded and scooted closer to the railing to peer over the edge. Rogue didn't bother and instead took a sip of her champagne. At this rate she would be drunk before they got the to Plantation.

"Ya seen a fille wit' skunk hair 'round anywhere?" She heard a squeaky voice that sounded like it belonged to a cartoon character ask. The voice was vaguely familiar and muffled by the live jazz band and distance, but she recognized when it said the hated nickname of 'Pepe' a moment later.

She had been hoping that someone had locked her up in an asylum so she wouldn't have to deal with her.

She looked back over to the boy to see that he was shuffling nervously from one foot to the other and a brilliant idea struck her. "Ah could still use a rescue." She said gaining his attention.

Rogue moved forward and looped her arm in his, leading him back inside to the small dance floor. He seemed to catch on and his face brightened as he took the lead. Rogue glanced over his shoulder to see a skinny blonde woman in a revealing pink dress talking to an older couple.

"So," Rogue started. "Ya gotta name?"

He jumped slightly at the twirled around the dance floor gracefully. "Etienne Marceaux." He said a louder than he probably meant judging by his wince.

She smiled at him. "Anna-Marie Darkholme, or Rogue." She had always preferred Rogue to Anna-Marie.

His eyes lit up with interest. "Does that mean ya a mutant?" He asked, seemingly losing his shyness. Etienne blushed at his blunt question. Well, most of it.

"Yeah, mine's in my skin." She told him. "So don' touch it if ya don' want me ta know all ya dirty secrets." She sent him a wink and his whole face flushed red. Exactly what had he been thinking?

"So ya like a telepath then?" He asked, keeping the conversation flowing.

"Much worse Ah'm afraid." She said donning a mock look of sympathy for a moment. "When Ah make skin contact with someone, Ah imprint their entire being ta myself. Their memories, physical abilities an' powers if the got'em." She explained. "Ah'm told it's quite uncomfortable."

"Tha's amazin'!" He said with large blue eyes.

She shrugged. It was a pretty cool power, but it sucked not being able to control it. "Wish Ah could turn it off every once in a while." She muttered.

He seemed to realize what it meant and shut his mouth.

"So what about you?" She said changing the subject. "What's it like bein' a thief for the Guild?"

"Oh, well, Ah'm still in trainin'." He said and blushed. If anymore blood went to his head then she was sure he would pass out. "Jean-Luc's my Oncle, so Ah get ta come ta these events when only Master Thieves are supposed ta."

"Ah don' usually come ta these things myself but Ah got inta town Thursday an' my mother insisted Ah come." She said fighting the impulse to roll her eyes. She spotted Mystique in a white evening gown that glittered with all the hand sown crystals in it. She nodded to the left of the room where her mother was walking. "There she is now."

Etienne turned to see her mutant mother in her blue skinned glory. "Tha's so cool!" He said. "Wha' can ya mere do? Bench press a bus?"

Rogue chuckled. "She's a shape shifter." She said as the dance ended and another one began.

At the end of their second dance, Rogue decided it was time to move on. She looked toward Etienne who was maybe about an inch taller than her. When he got older he would be a real looker and have all the girls clamouring to him with his sweetness.

"Thanks fo' the dance, Sugar." She said and blew him a kiss before disappearing into the crowd.

XxX

Remy looked up when Mystique approached the group. The shape shifter was wearing a white dress that hugged her curves and had several men staring after her. She had a confidence about her that few people ever achieved.

"Ah, Raven!" Jean-Luc said, moving back so as to make space beside him for her to join them. "How are ya enjoyin' ya'self so far?"

"The party is lovely." She said graciously.

Jean-Luc beamed as he was always one to hear praise. "An' where is ya daughter tanight?"

That's right, Remy reminded himself, Jean-Luc was intent on setting him up with Mystique's mutant daughter. He glanced around but didn't see anyone who might be genetically related to the blue woman in front of him. Maybe she left town and spared him the misery of being pushed in her direction.

"Let's see." She said and looked surveyed the room. "Ah! There she is on the dance floor."

Jean-Luc and Remy's Uncle Belize. "Tha's my boy Etienne she's dancin' wit'." His uncle said with a smirk.

"Poor boy look love struck." Jean-Luc said and both men chuckled.

Remy, who had his back to the small dance floor, turned to get a look at the girl who would undoubtedly be shoved in his face for her usefulness. It took him only a moment to find his cousin who looked like cupid had shot him in the ass with one of his arrows. He had good reason to look the way he did because the woman in his arms was a goddess.

She was maybe a little taller than average, or it could be she was wearing heels, either way he didn't care. She had beautiful pale skin with a rosy glow on her cheeks that he could see from half-way across the room. There was a stripe of white in her auburn hair that was pinned up in a bun, either an odd dye job or a physical sign of her mutation.

The woman wasn't the type of pretty that required constant attention like some of the runway models he had slept with. She seemed to have an effortless type of beauty that made her look as gorgeous dressed up as she probably would in sweat pants. Yeah, he wouldn't mind being pushed in her direction.

The dance between the angle and his cousin ended, she blew him a kiss and disappeared in the crowd leaving Etienne looking dazed. Poor boy was so damn shy he wondered how he mustered up the courage to ask a woman like her to dance in the first place.

He watched as Etienne seemed to shake himself from the daze and look around for someone familiar. He spotted Remy and his uncle and father and walked over, unable to stop the smile on his face. Remy smirked as his fifteen year old cousin came to stand beside him.

"Fin' ya'self a fille?" Jean-Luc asked causing all three men to chuckle and Etienne's face to light up red.

"Ah - she -" Etienne floundered.

"Where did ya muster up the nerve ta ask such a fine femme ta dance." Belize joked. "Ya been hangin' 'round Remy too long."

"Ah met her yesterday!" He blurted out his face so red Remy wondered how his heart was still pumping. If at all possible his face grew darker with blush. "Ah tried ta pick pocket her bu' she caught me. Then Ah saw her out on the deck an' some homme was botherin' her so Ah wen' over but she - " Etienne stopped and glanced toward Mystique. "But she already sent him on his way. Then she pulled me on the dance floor." He explained quickly.

The men laughed again while Mystique smirked with an indulgent roll of her eyes. Remy glanced around again for the woman but didn't see her. He'd be sure to save a dance for her when they all finally got to the ball. After all, it's what his father would want.